Images for medical use include X-ray images for medical use, CT-scan images and MRI images. These conventional images are captured by a film-screen photographic apparatus.
When medical images are read and interpreted, the physician performs this operation upon hanging the film on a view box (a back-lit film hanging box). The order in which the images are hung is referred to as the “hanging format” and differs depending upon the institute, the examination particulars and the personal preference of the physician. The hanging format is very important in terms of achieving highly accurate diagnosis. The importance of the hanging format is widely recognized. At medical establishments in the USA, for example, a specially appointed worker is employed to hang the film.
In line with the international standard DICOM (Digital Information and Communication in Medicine) relating to the digitization of medical images, the MIPS (Medical Image Processing System) standard has been set up by the Japan Industrial Association of Radiological Systems (JIRA) in Japan, where the digitization of medical images is being forwarded.
Against this background, there has been developed an X-ray digital photography apparatus for detecting and generating medical X-ray images as digital data. For example, there is an X-ray photography apparatus that employs a solid-state image sensing device for outputting an analog signal conforming to the strength of detected X rays, and a flat sensor panel for obtaining digital data by subjecting the analog signal to an A/D conversion. This X-ray digital photography apparatus is smaller than the conventional photography apparatus and is capable of reducing the amount of radiation to which the patient is exposed. For these and other reasons, the apparatus is starting to be used more actively.
In an X-ray digital photography apparatus, medical images are recorded not on film but as digital data and the recorded digital data is displayed on a monitor. Often the display layout is set beforehand according to the type of examination. The setting operation is not only complicated but also does not provide much leeway for reflecting the preferences of the physician.
Accordingly, the specification of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-56953 proposes a display system in which medical images are displayed and laid out automatically for each type of examination based upon direction of photography and procedure.
In this conventional display system, however, it is necessary to set the display layout in advance and the setting operation is complicated.